The Penguin Book of English Verse

This classic Penguin anthology opens with Ayatt, Spenser and Shakespeare and concludes with Dylan Thomas. Along the way - in a kind of royal progress from the reign of the first Elizabeth to that of the second - it takes in metaphysical poetry, romantic poetry and war poetry; verse by the great Americans such as Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost, love songs and lyrics, odes, sonnets and elegies. It contains, altogether, some of the best, the richest and most delightful poetry written in the English language.